function properly and will ultimately fail.
Physiological needs are
Maslow's hierarchy of needs
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Maslow's hierarchy of needs, represented as a pyramid with the
more basic needs at the bottom[1]
Maslow's hierarchy of needs is a theory in psychology proposed
by Abraham Maslow in his 1943 paper "A Theory of Human
Motivation" in Psychological Review.[2] Maslow subsequently
extended the idea to include his observations of humans' innate
curiosity. His theories parallel many other theories of
human developmental psychology, some of which focus on
describing the stages of growth in humans. Maslow used the terms
"physiological", "safety", "belongingness" and "love", "esteem",
"self-actualization", and "self-transcendence" to describe the
pattern that human motivations generally move through.
Maslow studied what he called exemplary people such as Albert
Einstein, Jane Addams, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Frederick
Douglass rather than mentally ill or neurotic people, writing that "the
study of crippled, stunted, immature, and unhealthy specimens can
yield only a cripple psychology and a cripple philosophy."[3] Maslow
studied the healthiest 1% of the college student population.[4]
Maslow's theory was fully expressed in his 1954 book Motivation
and Personality.[5] The hierarchy remains a very popular framework
in sociology research, management
training[6] and secondary andhigher psychology instruction.
Hierarchy
Maslow's hierarchy of needs is often portrayed in the shape of a
pyramid with the largest, most fundamental levels of needs at the
bottom and the need for self-actualization at the top.[1][7]
The most fundamental and basic four layers of the pyramid contain
what Maslow called "deficiency needs" or "d-needs": esteem,
friendship and love, security, and physical needs. If these
"deficiency needs" are not met – with the exception of the most
fundamental (physiological) need – there may not be a physical
indication, but the individual will feel anxious and tense. Maslow's
theory suggests that the most basic level of needs must be met
before the individual will strongly desire (or focus motivation upon)
the secondary or higher level needs. Maslow also coined the term
"metamotivation" to describe the motivation of people who go
beyond the scope of the basic needs and strive for constant
betterment.[8]
The human mind and brain are complex and have parallel
processes running at the same time, thus many different
motivations from various levels of Maslow's hierarchy can occur at
the same time. Maslow spoke clearly about these levels and their
satisfaction in terms such as "relative," "general," and "primarily."
Instead of stating that the individual focuses on a certain need at
any given time, Maslow stated that a certain need "dominates" the
human organism.[9] Thus Maslow acknowledged the likelihood that
the different levels of motivation could occur at any time in the
human mind, but he focused on identifying the basic types of
motivation and the order in which they should be met.
Physiological needs
Physiological needs are the physical requirements for human
survival. If these requirements are not met, the human body cannot
thought to be the most important; they should be met first.
Air, water, and food are metabolic requirements for survival in all
animals, including humans. Clothing and shelter provide necessary
protection from the elements. While maintaining an adequate birth
rate shapes the intensity of the human sexual instinct, sexual
competition may also shape said instinct.[2]
Safety needs
Once a person's physical safety needs are relatively satisfied, their
safety needs take precedence and dominate behavior. In the
absence of physical safety – due to war, natural disaster, family
violence, childhood abuse, etc. – people may (re-)experience post-
traumatic stress disorder or transgenerational trauma. In the
absence of economic safety – due to economic crisis and lack of
work opportunities – these safety needs manifest themselves in
ways such as a preference for job security, grievance procedures
for protecting the individual from unilateral authority, savings
accounts, insurance policies, disability accommodations, etc. This
level is more likely to be found in children as they generally have a
greater need to feel safe.
Safety and Security needs include:
 Personal security
 Financial security
 Health and well-being
 Safety net against accidents/illness and their adverse impacts
Love and belonging
After physiological and safety needs are fulfilled, the third level of
human needs is interpersonal and involves feelings
of belongingness. This need is especially strong in childhood and
can override the need for safety as witnessed in children who cling
to abusive parents. Deficiencies within this level of Maslow's
hierarchy – due to hospitalism, neglect,shunning, ostracism, etc. –
can adversely affect the individual's ability to form and maintain
emotionally significant relationships in general, such as:
 Friendship
 Intimacy
 Family
According to Maslow, humans need to feel a sense of belonging
and acceptance among their social groups, regardless
whether these groups are large or small. For example, some large
social groups may include clubs, co-workers, religious groups,
professional organizations, sports teams, and gangs. Some
examples of small social connections include family members,
intimate partners, mentors, colleagues, and confidants. Humans
need to love and be loved – both sexually and non-sexually – by
others.[2] Many people become susceptible to loneliness, social
anxiety, and clinical depression in the absence of this love or
belonging element. This need for belonging may overcome the
physiological and security needs, depending on the strength of the
peer pressure.
Esteem
All humans have a need to feel respected; this includes the need to
have self-esteem and self-respect. Esteem presents the typical
human desire to be accepted and valued by others. People often
engage in a profession or hobby to gain recognition. These
activities give the person a sense of contribution or value. Low self-
esteem or an inferiority complex may result from imbalances during
this level in the hierarchy. People with low self-esteem often need
respect from others; they may feel the need to seek fame or glory.
However, fame or glory will not help the person to build their self-
esteem until they accept who they are internally. Psychological
imbalances such as depression can hinder the person from
obtaining a higher level of self-esteem or self-respect.
Most people have a need for stable self-respect and self-esteem.
Maslow noted two versions of esteem needs: a "lower" version and
a "higher" version. The "lower" version of esteem is the need for
respect from others. This may include a need for status,
recognition, fame, prestige, and attention. The "higher" version
manifests itself as the need for self-respect. For example, the
person may have a need for strength, competence, mastery, self-
confidence, independence, and freedom. This "higher" version
takes precedence over the "lower" version because it relies on an
inner competence established through experience. Deprivation of
these needs may lead to an inferiority complex, weakness, and
helplessness.
Maslow states that while he originally thought the needs of humans
had strict guidelines, the "hierarchies are interrelated rather than
sharply separated".[5] This means that esteem and the subsequent
levels are not strictly separated; instead, the levels are closely
related.
Self-actualization
Main article: Self-actualization
"What a man can be, he must be."[10] This quotation forms the basis
of the perceived need for self-actualization. This level of need
refers to what a person's full potential is and the realization of that
potential. Maslow describes this level as the desire to accomplish
everything that one can, to become the most that one can be.
[11]
Individuals may perceive or focus on this need very specifically.
For example, one individual may have the strong desire to become
an ideal parent. In another, the desire may be expressed
athletically. For others, it may be expressed in paintings, pictures,
or inventions.[12] As previously mentioned, Maslow believed that to
understand this level of need, the person must not only achieve the
previous needs, but master them.
Self-transcendence
In his later years, Maslow explored a further dimension of needs,
while criticizing his own vision on self-actualization.[13] The self only
finds its actualization in giving itself to some higher goal outside
oneself, in altruism and spirituality.[14]
Research
Recent research appears to validate the existence of universal
human needs, although the hierarchy proposed by Maslow is called
into question.[15][16]
Following World War II, the unmet needs of homeless and
orphaned children presented difficulties that were often addressed
with the help of attachment theory, which was initially based on
Maslow and others' developmental psychology work by John
Bowlby.[17] Originally dealing primarily with maternal deprivation and
concordant losses of essential and primal needs, attachment theory
has since been extended to provide explanations of nearly all the
human needs in Maslow's hierarchy, from sustenance and mating
to group membership and justice.[18]
Criticism
Ranking
Global ranking
In their extensive review of research based on Maslow's theory,
Wahba and Bridwell found little evidence for the ranking of needs
that Maslow described or for the existence of a definite hierarchy at
all.[19]
The order in which the hierarchy is arranged, with self-actualization
described as the highest need, has been criticized as being
ethnocentric by Geert Hofstede.[20] Maslow's hierarchy of needs
fails to illustrate and expand upon the difference between the social
and intellectual needs of those raised in individualistic societies and
those raised incollectivist societies. The needs and drives of those
in individualistic societies tend to be more self-centered than those
in collectivist societies, focusing on improvement of the self, with
self-actualization being the apex of self-improvement. In collectivist
societies, the needs of acceptance and community will outweigh
the needs for freedom and individuality.[21]
Ranking of sex
The position and value of sex on the pyramid has also been a
source of criticism regarding Maslow's hierarchy. Maslow's
hierarchy places sex in the physiological needs category along with
food and breathing; it lists sex solely from an individualistic
perspective. For example, sex is placed with other physiological
needs which must be satisfied before a person considers "higher"
levels of motivation. Some critics feel this placement of sex
neglects the emotional, familial, and evolutionary implications of
sex within the community, although others point out that this is true
of all of the basic needs.[22][23] There are also people who do not
want sex, such as some asexuals.[24][25][26]
Changes to the hierarchy by circumstance
The higher-order (self-esteem and self-actualization) and lower-
order (physiological, safety, and love) needs classification of
Maslow's hierarchy of needs is not universal and may vary across
cultures due to individual differences and availability of resources in
the region or geopolitical entity/country.
In one study,[27] exploratory factor analysis (EFA) of a thirteen item
scale showed there were two particularly important levels of needs
in the US during the peacetime of 1993 to 1994: survival
(physiological and safety) and psychological (love, self-esteem, and
self-actualization). In 1991, a retrospective peacetime measure was
established and collected during the Persian Gulf War and US
citizens were asked to recall the importance of needs from the
previous year. Once again, only two levels of needs were identified;
therefore, people have the ability and competence to recall and
estimate the importance of needs. For citizens in the Middle East
(Egypt and Saudi Arabia), three levels of needs regarding
importance and satisfaction surfaced during the 1990 retrospective
peacetime. These three levels were completely different from those
of the US citizens.
Changes regarding the importance and satisfaction of needs from
the retrospective peacetime to the wartime due to stress varied
significantly across cultures (the US vs. the Middle East). For the
US citizens, there was only one level of needs since all needs were
considered equally important. With regards to satisfaction of needs
during the war, in the US there were three levels: physiological
needs, safety needs, and psychological needs (social, self-esteem,
and self-actualization). During the war, the satisfaction of
physiological needs and safety needs were separated into two
independent needs while during peacetime, they were combined as
one. For the people of the Middle East, the satisfaction of needs
changed from three levels to two during wartime.[28][29]
A 1981 study looked at how Maslow's hierarchy might vary across
age groups.[30] A survey asked participants of varying ages to rate a
set number of statements from most important to least important.
The researchers found that children had higher physical need
scores than the other groups, the love need emerged from
childhood to young adulthood, the esteem need was highest among
the adolescent group, young adults had the highest self-
actualization level, and old age had the highest level of security, it
was needed across all levels comparably. The authors argued that
this suggested Maslow's hierarchy may be limited as a theory for
developmental sequence since the sequence of the love need and
the self-esteem need should be reversed according to age.
Definition of terms
Self-actualization
The term "Self-actualization" may not universally convey Maslow's
observations; this motivation refers to focusing on becoming the
best person that one can possibly strive for in the service of both
the self and others.[9] Maslow's term of self-actualization might not
properly portray the full extent of this level; quite often, when a
person is at the level of self-actualization, much of what they
accomplish in general may benefit others or, "the greater good."
Abraham Maslow
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Abraham Harold Maslow (/ˈmæzloʊ/[citation needed]; April 1, 1908 –
June 8, 1970) was an American psychologist who was best known
for creating Maslow's hierarchy of needs, a theory of psychological
health predicated on fulfilling innate human needs in priority,
culminating in self-actualization.[2] Maslow was
a psychology professor at Alliant International University, Brandeis
University,Brooklyn College, New School for Social Research,
and Columbia University. He stressed the importance of focusing
on the positive qualities in people, as opposed to treating them as a
"bag of symptoms."[3] A Review of General Psychology survey,
published in 2002, ranked Maslow as the tenth most cited
psychologist of the 20th century.[4]
Biography[edit]
Youth[edit]
Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, Maslow was the oldest of
seven children and was classed as "mentally unstable" by a
psychologist. His parents were first generationJewish immigrants
from Russia who fled from Czarist persecution in the early 20th
century.[5] They had decided to live in New York City and in a
multiethnic, working-class neighborhood.[6] His parents were poor
and not intellectually oriented, but they valued education. It was a
tough time for Maslow, as he experienced anti-Semitism from his
teachers and from other children around the neighborhood. He had
various encounters with anti-Semitic gangs who would chase and
throw rocks at him.[7] Maslow and other young people at the time
with his background were struggling to overcome such acts of
racism and ethnic prejudice in the attempt to establish an idealistic
world based on widespread education and monetary justice.[8] The
tension outside his home was also felt within it, he rarely got along
with his mother, and eventually developed a strong revulsion to her.
He is quoted as saying, "What I had reacted to was not only her
physical appearance, but also her values and world view, her
stinginess, her total selfishness, her lack of love for anyone else in
the world – even her own husband and children – her narcissism,
her Negro prejudice, her exploitation of everyone, her assumption
that anyone was wrong who disagreed with her, her lack of friends,
her sloppiness and dirtiness..." He also grew up with few friends
other than his cousin Will, and as a result "...[He] grew up in
libraries and among books."[9] It was here that he developed his
love for reading and learning. He went to Boys High School, one of
the top high schools in Brooklyn.[10]Here, he served as the officer to
many academic clubs, and became editor of the Latin Magazine.
He also edited Principia, the school's Physics paper, for a year.
[11]
He developed other strengths as well:
As a young boy, Maslow believed physical strength to be the single
most defining characteristic of a true male; hence, he exercised
often and took up weight lifting in hopes of being transformed into a
more muscular, tough-looking guy, however, he was unable to
achieve this due to his humble-looking and chaste figure as well as
his studiousness.[12]
College and university[edit]
Maslow attended the City College of New York after high school. In
1926 he began taking legal studies classes at night in addition to
his undergraduate course load. He hated it and almost immediately
dropped out. In 1927 he transferred to Cornell, but he left after just
one semester due to poor grades and high costs.[13] He later
graduated from City College and went to graduate school at
the University of Wisconsin to study psychology. In 1928, he
married his first cousin Bertha, who was still in high school at the
time. The pair had met in Brooklyn years earlier.[14] Maslow's
psychology training at UW was decidedly experimental-behaviorist.
[15]
At Wisconsin he pursued a line of research which included
investigating primate dominance behavior and sexuality. Maslow's
early experience with behaviorism would leave him with a
strong positivist mindset.[16] Upon the recommendation of Professor
Hulsey Cason, Maslow wrote his master's thesis on "learning,
retention, and reproduction of verbal material".[17] Maslow regarded
the research as embarrassingly trivial, but he completed his thesis
the summer of 1931 and was awarded his master's degree in
psychology. He was so ashamed of the thesis that he removed it
from the psychology library and tore out its catalog listing.
[18]
However, Professor Carson admired the research enough to
urge Maslow to submit it for publication. Maslow's thesis was
published as two articles in 1934.
Academic career[edit]
He continued his research at Columbia University, on similar
themes. There he found another mentor in Alfred Adler, one
of Sigmund Freud's early colleagues. From 1937 to 1951, Maslow
was on the faculty of Brooklyn College. His family life and his
experiences influenced his psychological ideas. After World War II,
Maslow began to question the way psychologists had come to their
conclusions, and though he did not completely disagree, he had his
own ideas on how to understand the human mind.[19] He called his
new discipline humanistic psychology. Maslow was already a 33-
year-old father and had two children when the United States
entered World War II in 1941. He was thus ineligible for the military.
However, the horrors of war instead inspired a vision of peace in
him and this led to his groundbreaking psychological studies of self-
actualizing people. These studies began with his two
mentors, anthropologist Ruth Benedict and Gestalt
psychologist Max Wertheimer, whom he admired both
professionally and personally. These two were so accomplished in
both realms, and such "wonderful human beings" as well, that
Maslow began taking notes about them and their behavior. This
would be the basis of his lifelong research and thinking
about mental health and human potential[disambiguation needed].[20] He wrote
extensively on the subject, borrowing ideas from other
psychologists but adding significantly to them, especially the
concepts of a hierarchy of needs, metaneeds, metamotivation, self-
actualizing persons, and peak experiences. Maslow was a
professor atBrandeis University from 1951 to 1969, and then
became a resident fellow of the Laughlin Institute in California. In
1967, Maslow had an almost fatal heart attack, and knew his time
was limited. Maslow considered himself to be a psychological
pioneer. He gave future psychologists a push by bringing to light
different paths to ponder.[21] He built the framework that later
allowed other psychologists to add in more information. Maslow
long believed that leadership should be non-intervening. Consistent
with this approach, he rejected a nomination in 1963 to be
president of the Association for Humanistic Psychology because he
felt that the organization should develop an intellectual movement
without a leader.[22]
Death[edit]
While jogging, Maslow suffered a severe heart attack and died on
June 8, 1970 at the age of 62 in Menlo Park, California.[23][24]
Legacy[edit]
Later in life, Maslow was concerned with questions such as, "Why
don't more people self-actualize if their basic needs are met? How
can we humanistically understand the problem of evil?"[25]
In the spring of 1961, Maslow and Tony Sutich founded the Journal
of Humanistic Psychology, with Miles Vich as editor until 1971.
[26]
The journal printed its first issue in early 1961 and continues to
publish academic papers.[26]
Maslow attended the Association for Humanistic Psychology’s
founding meeting in 1963 where he declined nomination as its
president, arguing that the new organization should develop an
intellectual movement without a leader which resulted in useful
strategy during the field’s early years.[27]
In 1967, Maslow was named Humanist of the Year by the American
Humanist Association.[28]
Humanistic theories of self-actualization[edit]
Humanistic psychologists believe that every person has a strong
desire to realize his or her full potential, to reach a level of "self-
actualization". The main point of that new movement, that reached
its peak in 1960s, was to emphasize the positive potential of human
beings.[29] Maslow positioned his work as a vital complement to that
of Freud:
It is as if Freud supplied us the sick half of psychology and we must
now fill it out with the healthy half.[30]
However, Maslow was highly critical of Freud, since humanistic
psychologists did not recognize spirituality as a navigation for our
behaviours.[31]
To prove that humans are not blindly reacting to situations, but
trying to accomplish something greater, Maslow studied mentally
healthy individuals instead of people with serious psychological
issues. He focused on self-actualizing people. Self-actualizing
people indicate a coherent personality syndrome and represent
optimal psychological health and functioning.[32]
This informed his theory that a person enjoys "peak experiences",
high points in life when the individual is in harmony with himself and
his surroundings. In Maslow's view, self-actualized people can have
many peak experiences throughout a day while others have those
experiences less frequently.[33]
Qualities of self-actualizing people[edit]
He realized that all the individuals he studied had similar
personality traits. All were "reality centered," able to differentiate
what was fraudulent from what was genuine. They were also
"problem centered," meaning that they treated life's difficulties as
problems that demanded solutions. These individuals also were
comfortable being alone and had healthy personal relationships.
They had only a few close friends and family rather than a large
number of shallow relationships.[34]
Self-actualizing people tend to focus on problems outside
themselves; have a clear sense of what is true and what is false;
are spontaneous and creative; and are not bound too strictly by
social conventions.
Maslow noticed that self-actualized individuals had a better insight
of reality, deeply accepted themselves, others and the world, and
also had faced many problems and were known to be impulsive
people. These self-actualized individuals were very independent
and private when it came to their environment and culture,
especially their very own individual development on "potentialities
and inner resources".[35]
According to Maslow, self-actualizing people share the following
qualities:
 Truth: honest, reality, beauty, pure, clean and unadulterated
completeness
 Goodness: rightness, desirability, uprightness, benevolence,
honesty
 Beauty: rightness, form, aliveness, simplicity, richness,
wholeness, perfection, completion,
 Wholeness: unity, integration, tendency to oneness,
interconnectedness, simplicity, organization, structure, order,
not dissociated, synergy
 Dichotomy: transcendence: acceptance, resolution,
integration, polarities, opposites, contradictions
 Aliveness: process, not-deadness, spontaneity, self-regulation,
full-functioning
 Unique: idiosyncrasy, individuality, non comparability, novelty
 Perfection: nothing superfluous, nothing lacking, everything in
its right place, just-rightness, suitability, justice
 Necessity: inevitability: it must be just that way, not changed in
any slightest way
 Completion: ending, justice, fulfillment
 Justice: fairness, suitability, disinterestedness, non partiality,
 Order: lawfulness, rightness, perfectly arranged
 Simplicity: nakedness, abstract, essential skeletal, bluntness
 Richness: differentiation, complexity, intricacy, totality
 Effortlessness: ease; lack of strain, striving, or difficulty
 Playfulness: fun, joy, amusement
 Self-sufficiency: autonomy, independence, self-determining.[36]
Dynamics of self-actualization[edit]
Maslow based his theory partially on his own assumptions about
human potential and partially on his case studies of historical
figures whom he believed to be self-actualized, including Albert
Einstein and Henry David Thoreau.[37] Consequently, Maslow
argued, the way in which essential needs are fulfilled is just as
important as the needs themselves. Together, these define the
human experience. To the extent a person finds cooperative social
fulfillment, he establishes meaningful relationships with other
people and the larger world. In other words, he establishes
meaningful connections to an external reality—an essential
component of self-actualization. In contrast, to the extent that vital
needs find selfish and competitive fulfillment, a person acquires
hostile emotions and limited external relationships—his awareness
remains internal and limited.
Methodology[edit]
Maslow based his study on the writings of other
psychologists, Albert Einstein and people he knew who [he felt]
clearly met the standard of self-actualization. [needs reference]
Maslow used Einstein's writings and accomplishments to exemplify
the characteristics of the self-actualized person. But Ruth
Benedict and Max Wertheimer were also Maslow's models of self-
actualization. In this case, from a scientific perspective there are
numerous problems with this particular approach. First, it could be
argued that biographical analysis as a method is extremely
subjective as it is based entirely on the opinion of the researcher.
Personal opinion is always prone to bias, which reduces the validity
of any data obtained. Therefore Maslow's operational definition of
Self-actualization must not be blindly accepted as scientific fact.[38]
Hierarchy of needs[edit]
An interpretation of Maslow's hierarchy of needs, represented as a
pyramid with the more basic needs at the bottom[39]
Main article: Maslow's hierarchy of needs
Maslow described human needs as ordered in a prepotent
hierarchy—a pressing need would need to be mostly satisfied
before someone would give their attention to the next highest need.
None of his published works included a visual representation of the
hierarchy. The pyramidal diagram illustrating the Maslow needs
hierarchy may have been created by a psychology textbook
publisher as an illustrative device. This now iconic pyramid
frequently depicts the spectrum of human needs, both physical and
psychological, as accompaniment to articles describing Maslow's
needs theory and may give the impression that the Hierarchy of
Needs is a fixed and rigid sequence of progression. Yet, starting
with the first publication of his theory in 1943, Maslow described
human needs as being relatively fluid—with many needs being
present in a person simultaneously.[40]
The hierarchy of human needs model suggests that human needs
will only be fulfilled one level at a time.[41]
According to Maslow's theory, when a human being ascends the
levels of the hierarchy having fulfilled the needs in the hierarchy,
one may eventually achieve self-actualization. Late in life, Maslow
came to conclude that self-actualization was not an automatic
outcome of satisfying the other human needs[42][43]
Human needs as identified by Maslow:
 At the bottom of the hierarchy are the "Basic needs or
Physiological needs" of a human being: food, water, sleep and
sex.
 The next level is "Safety Needs: Security, Order, and Stability".
These two steps are important to the physical survival of the
person. Once individuals have basic nutrition, shelter and
safety, they attempt to accomplish more.
 The third level of need is "Love and Belonging", which are
psychological needs; when individuals have taken care of
themselves physically, they are ready to share themselves
with others, such as with family and friends.
 The fourth level is achieved when individuals feel comfortable
with what they have accomplished. This is the "Esteem" level,
the need to be competent and recognized, such as through
status and level of success.
 Then there is the "Cognitive" level, where individuals
intellectually stimulate themselves and explore.
 After that is the "Aesthetic" level, which is the need for
harmony, order and beauty.[44]
 At the top of the pyramid, "Need for Self-actualization" occurs
when individuals reach a state of harmony and understanding
because they are engaged in achieving their full potential.
[45]
Once a person has reached the self-actualization state they
focus on themselves and try to build their own image. They
may look at this in terms of feelings such as self-confidence or
by accomplishing a set goal.[5]
The first four levels are known as Deficit needs or D-needs. This
means that if you do not have enough of one of those four needs,
you will have the feeling that you need to get it. But when you do
get them, then you feel content. These needs alone are not
motivating.[5]
Maslow wrote that there are certain conditions that must be fulfilled
in order for the basic needs to be satisfied. For example, freedom
of speech, freedom to express oneself, and freedom to seek new
information[46] are a few of the prerequisites. Any blockages of these
freedoms could prevent the satisfaction of the basic needs.
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs has been subject to internet memes
over the past few years, specifically looking at the modern
integration of technology in our lives and humorously suggesting
that Wi-Fi was among the most basic of human needs.[47]
Peak experiences[edit]
Beyond the routine of needs fulfillment, Maslow envisioned
moments of extraordinary experience, known as Peak experiences,
which are profound moments of love, understanding, happiness, or
rapture, during which a person feels more whole, alive, self-
sufficient and yet a part of the world, more aware of truth, justice,
harmony, goodness, and so on. Self-actualizing people have many
such peak experiences. In other words, these “peak experiences”
or states of flow are the reflections of the realization of one’s human
potential and represent the height of personality development[48]
Metamotivation[edit]
Maslow used the term metamotivation to describe self-actualized
people who are driven by innate forces beyond their basic needs,
so that they may explore and reach their full human potential. [49]
B-values[edit]
In studying accounts of peak experiences, Maslow identified a
manner of thought he called "Being-cognition" (or "B-cognition"),
which is holistic and accepting, as opposed to the evaluative
"Deficiency-cognition" (or "D-cognition"), and values he called
"Being-values".[50] He listed the B-values as:
 Wholeness (unity; integration; tendency to one-ness;
interconnectedness; simplicity; organization; structure;
dichotomy-transcendence; order);
 Perfection (necessity; just-right-ness; just-so-ness; inevitability;
suitability; justice; completeness; "oughtness");
 Completion (ending; finality; justice; "it's finished"; fulfillment;
finis and telos; destiny; fate);
 Justice (fairness; orderliness; lawfulness; "oughtness");
 Aliveness (process; non-deadness; spontaneity; self-
regulation; full-functioning);
 Richness (differentiation, complexity; intricacy);
 Simplicity (honesty; nakedness; essentiality; abstract,
essential, skeletal structure);
 Beauty (rightness; form; aliveness; simplicity; richness;
wholeness; perfection; completion; uniqueness; honesty);
 Goodness (rightness; desirability; oughtness; justice;
benevolence; honesty);
 Uniqueness (idiosyncrasy; individuality; non-comparability;
novelty);
 Effortlessness (ease; lack of strain, striving or difficulty; grace;
perfect, beautiful functioning);

Playfulness (fun; joy; amusement; gaiety; humor; exuberance;
effortlessness);
 Truth (honesty; reality; nakedness; simplicity; richness;
oughtness; beauty; pure, clean and unadulterated;
completeness; essentiality).
 Self-sufficiency (autonomy; independence; not-needing-other-
than-itself-in-order-to-be-itself; self-determining; environment-
transcendence; separateness; living by its own laws).
Humanistic psychology[edit]
Maslow's thinking was original. Most psychologists before him had
been concerned with the abnormal and the ill. He urged people to
acknowledge their basic needs before addressing higher needs and
ultimately self-actualization. He wanted to know what constituted
positive mental health. Humanistic psychology gave rise to several
different therapies, all guided by the idea that people possess the
inner resources for growth and healing and that the point of therapy
is to help remove obstacles to individuals' achieving them. The
most famous of these was client-centered therapy developed
by Carl Rogers.
The basic principles behind humanistic psychology are simple: 1.
Someone's present functioning is their most significant aspect. As a
result humanists emphasize the here and now instead of examining
the past or attempting to predict the future. 2. To be mentally
healthy, individuals must take personal responsibility for their
actions, regardless of whether the actions are positive or negative.
3. Each person, simply by being, is inherently worthy. While any
given action may be negative, these actions do not cancel out the
value of a person. 4. The ultimate goal of living is to attain personal
growth and understanding. Only through constant self-improvement
and self-understanding can an individual ever be truly happy.[51]
Humanistic psychology theory suits people who see the positive
side of humanity and believe in free will. This theory clearly
contrasts with Freud's theory of biological determinism. Another
significant strength is that humanistic psychology theory is
compatible with other schools of thought. Maslow's Hierarchy is
also applicable to other topics, such as finance, economics, or even
in history or criminology. Humanist psychology, also coined positive
psychology, is criticized for its lack of empirical validation and
therefore its lack of usefulness in treating specific problems. It may
also fail to help or diagnose people who have severe mental
disorders.[51]
Psychology of religion and transpersonal psychology[edit]
Maslow's influence extended beyond psychology. His work on peak
experiences was relevant to religious studies, founding with
Stanislav Grof, Viktor Frankl, James Fadiman, Anthony Sutich,
Miles Vich and Michael Murphy, a new school called by himself "the
fourth force in psychology" the transpersonal psychology, with
applicability in many different areas, one of them being the work
on management in transpersonal business studies. Maslow's
Hierarchy is used in higher education for advising students and
student retention[52] as well as a key concept in student
development.[53] Maslow himself found it difficult to accept religious
experience as valid unless placed in a positivistic framework.[54]
Positive psychology[edit]
Maslow called his work positive psychology.[55][56] His work has
enjoyed a revival of interest and influence among leaders of
the positive psychology movement such as Martin Seligman. This
movement focuses only on a higher human nature.[57][58] Positive
psychology spends its research looking at the positive side of
things and how they go right rather than the pessimistic side.[59]
Maslow's hammer[edit]
He is also known for Maslow's hammer, popularly phrased as "if all
you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail" from his
book The Psychology of Science, published in 1966.[60]
Criticism[edit]
Maslow's ideas have been criticized for their lack of scientific rigor.
He was criticized as too soft scientifically by American empiricists.
[54]
In 2006, author and former philosophy professor Christina Hoff
Sommers and practicing psychiatrist Sally Satel asserted that, due
to lack of empirical support, Maslow's ideas have fallen out of
fashion and are "no longer taken seriously in the world of academic
psychology."[61] Positive psychology spends much of its research
looking for how things go right rather than the more pessimistic
view point, how things go wrong.[62] Furthermore, the Hierarchy of
Needs has been accused of having a cultural bias—mainly
reflecting Western values and ideologies. From the perspective of
many cultural psychologists, this concept is considered relative to
each culture and society and cannot be universally applied.
[63]
Maslow's concept of self-actualizing people was united with
Piaget's developmental theory to the process of initiation in 1993. [64]
Writings[edit]
 A Theory of Human Motivation (originally published
in Psychological Review, 1943, Vol. 50 #4, pp. 370–396).
 Motivation and Personality (1st edition: 1954, 2nd edition:
1970, 3rd edition 1987)
 Religions, Values, and Peak Experiences, Columbus,
Ohio: Ohio State University Press, 1964.
 Eupsychian Management, 1965; republished as Maslow on
Management, 1998
 The Psychology of Science: A Reconnaissance, New
York: Harper & Row, 1966; Chapel Hill: Maurice Bassett, 2002.
 Toward a Psychology of Being, (1st edition, 1962; 2nd edition,
1968)
 The Farther Reaches of Human Nature, 1971
 Future Visions: The Unpublished Papers of Abraham
Maslow by E.L. Hoffman (Editor) 1996
Frederick Herzberg
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Frederick Irving Herzberg (April 18, 1923 – January 19, 2000[1])
was an American psychologist who became one of the most
influential names in business management.[2][3] He is most famous
for introducing job enrichment and the Motivator-Hygiene theory.
His 1968 publication "One More Time, How Do You Motivate
Employees?" had sold 1.2 million reprints by 1987 and was the
most requested article from the Harvard Business Review.[4]
Personal life[edit]
Herzberg was born in 1923 in Lynn, Massachusetts, to Gertrude
and Lewis Herzberg, who were Lithuanian immigrants. He enrolled
at the City College of New York in 1939. He did not finish his
studies as he enlisted in the army. In 1944 he married Shirley
Bedell.
He finally finished his studies and graduated from the City College
of New York in 1946. He then decided to move to the University of
Pittsburgh where he earned a master's degree in science and
public health. He completed a Ph.D. at Pittsburgh that focused on
electric shock therapy.
Research[edit]
Herzberg started his research on organizations in the 1950s. He
worked at the University of Utah, where he remained until he
retired. Prior to his move to Utah, Herzberg was professor of
management at Case Western Reserve University, where he
established the Department of Industrial Mental Health.
 In his lifetime, Herzberg had consulted for many organizations as
well as for the United States and other foreign governments. He
has a son who currently lives in West New York.[3]
Motivator-Hygiene Theory[edit]
Main article: Two-factor theory
Herzberg proposed the motivator-hygiene theory, also known as
the two-factor theory of job satisfaction. According to his theory,
people are influenced by two sets of factors.
The idea is that hygiene factors will not motivate, but if they are not
there, they can lower motivation. These factors could be anything
from clean toilets and comfortable chairs, to a reasonable level of
pay and job security.
Motivational factors will not necessarily lower motivation, but can be
responsible for increasing motivation. These factors could involve
job recognition, potential for promotion or even the work in itself. [5]
David McClelland
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For the English soccer player, see David McClelland (footballer).
For the Northern Irish unionist, see David McClelland (politician).
David McClelland.
David Clarence McClelland (May 20, 1917 – March 27, 1998) was
an American psychologist, noted for his work on motivation Need
Theory. He published a number of works during the 1950s and the
1990s and developed new scoring systems for the Thematic
Apperception Test (TAT) and its descendants.[1] McClelland is
credited with developing the Achievement Motivation Theory
commonly referred to as need achievement or n-achievement
theory.[2] A Review of General Psychology survey, published in
2002, ranked McClelland as the 15th most cited psychologist of the
20th century.[3]
Contents
[hide]
 1Life and career
 2Publications
 3See also
 4Notes and references
Life and career[edit]
McClelland, born in Mt. Vernon, New York, was awarded
a Bachelor of Arts from Wesleyan University in 1938, an MA from
the University of Missouri in 1939,[1] and a PhD in experimental
psychology from Yale University in 1941. He taught at Connecticut
College and Wesleyan University before joining the faculty
at Harvard University in 1956, where he worked for 30 years,
serving as chairman of the Department of Psychology and Social
Relations. In 1987,[4] he moved to Boston University, where he was
awarded the American Psychological Association Award for
Distinguished Scientific Contributions.[citation needed]
The major themes of David McClelland’s work were on personality
and the application of that knowledge to helping people make their
lives better. One theme was the development of the expectancy-
value theory of human motivation. A second theme was the
development of tests and operant methods, such as the Thematic
Apperception Test, Behavioral Event Interview, and the Test of
Thematic Analysis. A third theme was the development of job-
competency studies, and a fourth theme was the application of this
research to helping people and their social systems, whether that
was through motivation and competency development, organization
and community development, and changing behavior to battle
stress and addiction. David McClelland believed in applying the
results from the research and testing to see if they helped people.
He was instrumental in starting 14 research and consulting
companies, the largest was McBer and Company (1965-1989),
which later was sold to Yankelovich, Skelly & White in 1983 and
even later to Saatchi and Saatchi (1985). The Hay Group, also
purchased by Saatchi and Saatchi, and McBer bought themselves
back from S&S in 1989 and operated as the worldwide consultancy
called The Hay Group until they were acquired by Korn Ferry in
2016.
Expectancy Value Theory of Motivation
McClelland claimed that motivation is “a recurrent concern for a
goal state or condition as measured in fantasy, which drives, directs
and selects the behavior of the individual” (McClelland, 1985).
Basing his work on the work of Henry Murray, he focused on three
particular motives: the Need for Achievement (N Ach); the Need for
Affiliation (N Aff); and the Need for Power (N Pow). The work in the
1940s through the late 1960s focused on the Achievement Motive
and its impact on development of economies and entrepreneurship
(McClelland and Winter, 1969; Miron and McClelland, 1979). He
shifted his work in the 1960s to focus on the power motive, first
addressing issues of addiction and alcoholism (McClelland, Davis,
Kalin and Wanner, 1972), then to leadership effectiveness
(McClelland and Boyatzis, 1982; McClelland and Burnham, 1976),
and later to community development (McClelland, Rhinesmith and
Kristensen, 1975). The work on leadership and management
helped to create a behavioral level of a person’s capability, which
McClelland called “competencies (McClelland, 1973; McClelland,
1998; Boyatzis, 1982; Spencer and Spencer, 1993; Goleman,
1998). This work was one of the foundational works helping to
create the competency movement in human resources. He also led
efforts to show how important competencies were relative to
knowledge and traditional personality traits in the desired outcomes
of higher education (Winter, McClelland and Stewart, 1981). His
work on power extended into research on the body’s natural
healing process (McClelland, 1979).
In an exception from the typical focus of a psychologist, McClelland
also examined cultural and country-wide effects of motives and
related them to large scale trends in society, such as economic
development, job creation, the provocation of wars and health.
McClelland’s work on motivation was cited as the most useful
approach to motivation in a study by the former accounting firm
Touche Ross & Company (Miller, 1981).
In Search of Operant Tests and Measures
David McClelland argued that operant methods (i.e., tests where a
person must generate thoughts or actions) were much more valid
predictors of behavioral outcomes, job performance, life satisfaction
and other similar outcomes. Specifically, he claimed that operant
methods had greater validity and sensitivity than respondent
measures (i.e., tests calling for a true/false, rating or ranking
response). He fought against more traditional psychologists
insisting on using self-assessment, respondent measures and
avoiding operant measures because, in traditional views, operant
measures suffered from less traditional measures of reliability.
McClelland believed that better operant measures were possible
with the use of reliable codes for processing the information in them
(Smith, Atkinson, McClelland and Veroff, 1992; Boyatzis, 1998;
Winter and McClelland, 1978). He claimed his life long quest was to
instill in psychological researchers a value of extracting people’s
actual thought (i.e., conscious and unconscious) along with their
behavior. He was repeatedly publishing research and encouraging
his doctoral students and colleagues to show that operant methods,
as compared to respondent methods, consistently show: (a) more
criterion validity; (b) increased insightfulness despite less test-retest
reliability; (c) greater sensitivity in discriminating mood and such
differences; (d) more uniqueness and less likelihood of suffering
from multicollinearity; (e) greater cross-cultural validity, because
they did not require a person to respond to prepared items; and (f)
increased utility in applications to human or organizational
development (McClelland, 1985).
Job Competencies
McClelland et al (1958) conceptualized a broad array of
capabilities. Reviving his earlier personality theory (McClelland,
1951), McClelland and his colleagues at McBer and Company
intensified competency research on management, leadership and
professional jobs in the early 1970s (i.e., skills, self-image, traits,
and motives, see Boyatzis, 1982; Spencer and Spencer, 1993;
Goleman, 1998). The definition of a job competency required that
the person’s intent be understood, not merely that the person’s
behavior be observed. They used operant methods like audiotaped
Critical Incident Interviews, which they called Behavioral event
Interviews, and videotaped simulations with inductive research
designs comparing effective with ineffective or even less effective
performers. This approach was focused on the “person,” rather
than the tasks or job.
The research results developed a picture of how a superior
performer in a job thinks, feels, and acts in his/her work setting.
This became a model for how to help anyone in a job, or aspiring to
one, develop their capability. It became, over the coming decades,
the norm for training design, selection and promotion practices,
career development and even higher education in developing
people for such jobs.
Helping People Change
David McClelland believed that if you know how an outstanding
performer thinks and acts, you could teach people how to think and
act that way. The early projects addressed entrepreneurial
development and training in achievement thinking and behavior for
small business owners in India, Tunisia, Iran, Poland, Malawi and
the US.
“Understanding human motivation ought to be a good thing. It
should help us to find out what we really want so that we can avoid
chasing rainbows that are not for us. It should open up
opportunities for self-development if we apply motivational
principles to pursuing our goals in life”.[5]

Publications[edit]
McClelland published a number of works during his career.
Books

 McClelland, D.C., Atkinson, J.W., Clark, R.A., and Lowell, E.L.

(1953). The Achievement Motive. NY: Appleton-Century-
Crofts.
 McClelland, D.C., Baldwin, A.L., Bronfenbrenner, and
Strodbeck, F.L. (1958). Talent and Society. NY: Van Nostrand.
 McClelland, D.C. (1951). Personality. NY: William Sloane
Associates.
 McClelland, D.C. (1984). Motives, Personality, and Society:
Selected Papers. NY: Praeger.
 McClelland, D.C. and Winter, D.G. (1969). Motivating
Economic Achievement. NY: Free Press.
 McClelland, D.C., Davis, W.N., Kalin, R., and Wanner, E.
(1972). The Drinking Man: Alcohol and Human Motivation. NY:
Free Press.
 Winter, D.G., McClelland, D.G., and Stewart, A.J. (1981). A
New Case for the Liberal Arts: Assessing Institutional Goals
and Student Development. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
 Smith, C.P., with Atkinson, J.W., McClelland, D.C., and Veroff,
J. (eds.) (1992). Motivation and Personality: Handbook of
Thematic Content Analysis. NY: Cambridge University Press.
 The Achievement Motive (1953).
 The Achieving Society (1961).
 The Roots of Consciousness (1964).
 Power: The Inner Experience (1975).
 Human Motivation (1985).
Journal publications

 McClelland, David C. (1978). Managing motivation to expand

human freedom. American Psychologist, 33(3) 201–210.
 McClelland, D.C. (1965). “Toward a theory of motive
acquisition.” American Psychologist, 20, pp. 321–333.
 McClelland, D.C. (1973). “Testing for competence rather than
intelligence.” American Psychologist, 28, pp. 1–14.
 McClelland, D.C. (1979). “Inhibited power motivation and high
blood pressure in men.” Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 88,
pp. 182–190.
 McClelland, D.C. (1998). Identifying competencies with
behavioral event interviews. Psychological Science. 9(5), 331-
339.
 McClelland, D.C., Rhinesmith, S., and Kristensen, R. (1975).
The effects of power training on community action
agencies. Journal of Applied Behavioral Sciences, 11, pp. 92-
115.
 McClelland, D.C. and Burnham, D.H. (1976). “Power is the
great motivator.” Harvard Business Review, 54, pp. 100–111.
 McClelland, D.C. and Boyatzis, R.E. (1982). “The leadership
motive pattern and long-term success in
management.” Journal of Applied Psychology, 67(6). pp. 737–
743.
 Miron, D. and McClelland, D.C. (1979). “The impact of
Achievement Motivation Training on small business.” California
Management Review, 21(4). pp. 13–28.
 Winter, D.G. and McClelland, D.C. (1978). “Thematic analysis
An empirically derived measure of the effects of liberal arts
education.” Journal of Educational Psychology, 70, pp. 8–16.